Monday, September 25, 2006

Poop

Friday, September 22, 2006

Little Heidi

Little Heidi has been staying with us for the past week. She has been an utter darling, melting our hearts from my maid to my hard-hearted Dad. My brother and I enjoyed watching her chewing antics, gnawing at doormats and chasing anything that moved. I adored the way she would fall asleep halfway chewing at the doggy toy (Furry) I placed next to her as a security blanket.

Mister Toto, on the other hand, can get rather irritated with Heidi's constant tail-chewing (his) habits. Heh.

Tonight, Heidi will be going home with Catherine. This morning, my brother went to the backyard to look at her.

Hey, he said, I will not be able to catch you by the time I come home. You will probably be with your new owner. I'm here to say Goodbye.

All right, Heidi girl, I will give you Furry to chew on so you will have company before you sleep in your new home. Catherine dear will be a good mother, I'm sure. :)

Sunday, September 17, 2006

The Adoption Mission

What a hectic, hectic weekend! But the excellent news is: All the puppies have new owners to shower them with love and new homes! Whee!

I was panicking on Friday, not exactly knowing where to go or what to do. It was a mess, really. Thankfully, with the wonderful invention of the Internet and of course, some strange stroke of luck, things seemingly turned out quite fine for now. There was quite an overwhelming response to my advertisement on WhoLivesNearYou.com, my blog, and my plea on MSN Messenger. Perhaps the word of mouth is really a powerful tool. Thank you, once again, to those who help in some way or another!

Fortunately for me, I have a friend like Shannon who knows alot about dogs, puppies and whatsnot and a neighbor named Jeanette who specialized in pet supplies. Jeanette provided me with some fences and together with my brother, they neatly whipped up an enclosure for the 5 little darlings.

On Friday night, someone took home little fluffy 'Bao Gong'. However, his irresponsible actions left me rather shaken and I demanded he bring the dog back the next day. This little glitch in the mission left quite a sour taste in my mouth, and I began to feel anxious about the fate of the little puppies.

I worked till late Saturday dawn, putting up online notices and doing some doggy rescue research, before waking up early to prepare the little ones to meet potential adopters. Before my mum and Lina gave them all a bath, I decided to release them in the garden for some fun, with Toto as the chief herder.

Sometimes, the little ones get into fights...

..and Captain Toto has to come to the rescue...

..and tell the rough ones to bugger off!

Eh, eh, ask you all don't fight already. Don't understand, is it?

Soon, at about 11 in the morning, my friends who are keen to adopt began to arrive. They comprised mainly of Catherine, Cynthia and Cynthia's colleagues. Shannon came with bags of puppy goodies to help with the chaos. In fact, I think we did look like a mini SPCA in action because one of the potential adopter quip "Are you all some sort of pet rescue group???" Haha.

Look how busy my backyard was!

Everyone appeared to have a personal favorite. Each one took a puppy up for loads of cuddles. Catherine picked little diamond and renamed her 'Heidi'. Cynthia picked little brownhead and renamed her 'Twinkle'. Daimler picked the adorable little Bao Gong.

Weighing the puppies!

Shannon the vet, deworming the pups.

Daimler with Twinkle and Bao Gong. All the puppies love him!

Two puppies were adopted by persons who responded to my WhoLivesNearYou advertisement. We interviewed them and made them promise to bring them back for vaccinations. I will call them a week later to update on their progress.

Here is Jackie No. 1 going to her new home. :)

Here is Twinkle, going home too!

My mummy was a great help, feeding the visitors with goodies, mopping up, and telling us grandmotherly stories. Kudos to the Mum!

Sandy dropped by to show the puppies some love too.

Some other random picturesof the little pups.

Anyway, I am amazed at the speedy success of the mission, at least for now. I will check back with the owners to ensure the pups are fine. Probably, we can organize some kind of outing to reunite the siblings? Hee.

The picture below says it all at the end of the day.Doggone it, I am so exhausted!

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Argh!

I just spent the last hour speed-reading documentation, relocating stacks of notes, removing tapes and boxes, to install a newly purchased Canon Printer.

Actually, it was given free during the Comex Fair where my brother bought a laptop. He came home with the deal which delighted my mother who has been nagging for a new printer to replace our old ones.

Anyway, like all men, my brother's assurance of 'I will set up the printer soon' actually means 'Never' or if you prefer, 'Over my dead body'.

Either that, he knows the universal strategy of all men, that is - by leaving any accursed chore undone for long periods of time, the chore will automatically dissipate into thin air (read: get done by a woman).

Thus, as usual, I morphed into the handyman of the family, the superheroine who solves all video cassette recorder woes, wireless internet troubles, television reception disorders and whatsnot.

However, just when I thought the newly minted printer is settled all nicely at the corner of the table amidst all my sweat and cuss words, I realized I am missing a bloody USB CABLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I called my brother hastily.

Me: Brother, the printer you brought home has no USB cable one.Bro: Huh.Me: How to connect to computer like that? Wireless meh?Bro: Mmm. I need to ask my friend.

Suddenly, a burst of light shone from above and magnified a line of super mini-sized (probably Arial Font Size 1.0 words) that reads: USB cable must be purchased to connect this product to the PC.

Monday, September 11, 2006

Happy Birthday Lina! & Flying Escargot

Lina, our domestic helper, is one special person. Not only has she the uncanny ability to comprehend and predict each family member's quirky habits, she is also blessed with quick wit and sharp initiative. Another special trait of hers include sharing her birthday with one of world's tragic incidents - September 11th.

Yesterday, my mum and I took her out to celebrate her birthday. After browsing around Bugis Junction, we settled upon Ma Masion, a restaurant that serves up a fusion of Japanese and Western Cuisine. The queue comprised mainly of Japanese customers, probably an indication of how authentic the food is.

After queuing for a good 20 minutes, we were finally shown our seats.

Here are shots of Mumsy and Lina waiting for their food.

I don't know what they are laughing at. Maybe I looked funny.

Our meal started with a cheesy potato appetizer. The perfect solution to my melted cheese craving for the night.

Next, the waitress presented our plate of escargots before setting them on fire.

Notice how my mother looked mildly distressed to witness her escargots going into flames. Lina, on the other hand, looked coolly amused.

Like the ever-efficient cook of the house, Lina could not help but keep an eye to ensure the dish isn't overcooked, even when posing for photos. Hee.

Anyway, I offered kindly to pry the little bits of flesh from the shells, using the typical sort of pincer and a dented fork

The powerful spring of the stupid tool took me by surprise when I released it accidentally. The victimized escargot shot and riccocheted off the walls somewhere. Lina dissolved into teary laughing hysterics while my mother pretended I was not her daughter.

After ensuring I did not injure any fellow customers with the wayward escargot, I found it strangely nestled under my chair. Let's hope nobody notice eh?

Since the flesh was still inside the shell, my mother asked me to pick it up and pry anyway. Ho ho. I became an expert in maneuvering the damn pincers. No more flying escargots.

The main courses arrived soon after.Lina's chicken steak

Mum and her mouth-watering Chili Cod Roe Spaghetti

More cheesy satisfaction - Au Gratin with Prawns and Scallop

All in all, it was an awesome dinner. I'll give it a 7.5/10. Thumbs up!

Sunday, September 10, 2006

Exploring the East

Since I moved to Holland area, my hangouts are mostly confined within town and the Western region (unless I have possession of the car or attain some kindly chaffeuring services). Yesterday, a group of us planned an expedition to the East, specifically the Coast, a place where we have quite neglected recently.

We started out the typical East Coasty way, that is, to rent a bloody bike (or blades). The whole park was simply teeming with roller-bladers, cyclists and people. I was reminded of my distaste for this public park on a weekend. Crowds. Mmm. I am anti-crowd kind of person, explicating my preference for ulu parks such as Kent Ridge and Labrador, where there are no people to wag fingers and chide me for not leashing Mister Toto.

Anyway, we rented our bikes and rode towards this mini jetty towards Fort Road where I enjoyed watching uncles flying some very powerful kites. It was quite entertaining, really. Or maybe, I am just getting old so I actually enjoyed watching it.

After making a detour at the dead end, we rode towards Bedok Jetty, which was overcrowded as usual. We veered off slightly from the jetty, found some nice patch of grass for us to lay our mat, and settled down for some 100-plus and card games. It was a good, cheap way to while time away, coupled with the beautiful sky and cool sea breeze.

As dusk slowly sunk in, we cycled back dutifully to return our bikes. There was an hour free for every hour of rental. I am not sure if this is the norm among the bicycle shops, but hey, 7 bucks for 2 hours of exercise is quite inexpensive, eh?

The arduous task of deciding where to dine was up next. It can be quite a chore selecting a place, especially in big groups where the majority of people are inclined to quip "Anything, lah." Thankfully, as we were browsing and racking our brains, a friendly waitress came up to us and started introducing the menu in a non-hardselling way. Needless to say, we were sold. I think the restaurant is called Zen, serving up pan-Asian fusion cusine, next to MacDonalds.

Our meal was quite a fine palate, comprising...

Fresh Oysters (One for a dollar!)

A variety of Sashimi

Crispy Frog Legs

Drunken Lobster Soup

Truffle Mushroom Ice Cream

... and quite some dishes more. I like the Oriental Crab Mee sua. Mmm. Thinking about it makes me hungry now.

Amazingly, despite the fulfilling dinner, Alvin insisted on going to Macs next door to get his dosage of french fries.

Here, he displayed how he could get rid of his double chin should he consume too much french fries.

Finally, we strolled down the beach with some drinks bought from 7-11, put the mat to a good use again, and sleepily lounged around for some lazy games. The games did quite an excellent job of waking us up and tickling our funny bones.

So, the moral of the story is, invest in a good picnic mat and perhaps, some speakers for your ipod for a nice cheap way to while your Saturday away. :)